GMRwings1983

I thought we sat back too much in the 3rd, and I hope that doesn't come back to bite us when the game starts tomorrow. Great win, especially without Datsyuk.

Ozzie is one step closer to the Conn Smythe.

Are Franzen and Hank playing in this game?

Goddamn biased NHL media again. Can't stop talking about the Pens.

We need Ozzie to be our best player in this series in order to win. That wasn't a very good way to start things off for him, especially since we dominated the period.

I wasn't talking about depth as much as I was talking about strategy. The strategy the Pens play has not been shown to work against the Wings.

The problem with our PK is that we give opposition easy entry into the zone. The PK starts with denying entry, and the Wings aren't very good at doing that. The rest is because we do a poor job of not allowing point shots.

This is the best of those threads, though. Yeah, we're the most skilled team, but even so we've lost in the playoffs before to much less skilled teams. However, as I pointed out in my original post, none of those teams that beat us tried to do it by taking us head on. They were all more defensively disciplined teams. The Pens don't know any other way to play other than a full fledged offensive attacking style. That style has just never worked against us and the Pens should know that by now.

Why do you guys think Chicago is better than the Pens? The Hawks were happy just to make it this far, but the Pens aren't going to settle for that since already made it this far last year. Plus, Malkin and Crosby are a lot better than Toews and Kane.

Datsyuk is our best defensive forward so we're definitely going to miss his puck pressure and takeaways. It's bad enough to lose a series, but if you do lose, you at least want all your guns in the lineup. Why can't their best forward also get injured? We just can't catch a break with this injury s***.

I don't believe they'd be so brassy and nonprofessional to do something like that. This isn't the regular season, and being up in a series doesn't mean you can coast the rest of the way through. Like I said earlier, there is no precedent in sports for something like this.

If the refs pull some of the same s*** that we saw in games 5 and 6 last year, then I for one will complain. Ironic how the Pens get more powerplays in overtime than any other teams put together, yet their fans don't want others to whine. Also, we'll likely be without our best forward to start the series. How would the Pens do without their best forward, and would their fans whine about it?

Yeah, that is pretty weird. Good pickup there.

You're joking, right? No team is that overconfident that they'd rest someone just because they're ahead in the series, let alone their most important player and a guy that has never missed a playoff game before. I suppose Babcock would only play him if there was a game 7, right? Imagine how stupid he'd look if we lost the series after resting Lidstrom for several games. Lidstrom is our captain and an iron man, and I've never heard of healthy players being rested in the playoffs in any sport. I don't think of Lidstrom or Babcock as being the guys that would break that kind of pattern in sports.

This year will be tougher for several reasons. 1. We have tons of injuries, and to our best players also. That's the biggest reason it will be tough and nothing more needs to be explained as to why. 2. We're finally playing a team in the Finals that isn't happy just to be here. That was the case the last several SCF appearances for the Wings' opponents. This team actually has the potential to be hungrier than the Wings, although that remains to be seen. 3. Malkin was useless and out of gas last year. This year he didn't look tired at all by the end of that Carolina series. 4. I expect the officiating to be biasedly against us, much like it was last year, especially during those last 2 games.

You're forgetting that we're only playing 4 or 5 defensemen with these injuries. If the Wings aren't healthy, we have no depth advantage.

As others have said, he's been very good and has surprised many people, myself included.

Can anyone think of a good justification for why there’s only one day off between games 2 and 3, as opposed to two days off? Like it’s not ridiculous enough that these teams have to play back to back games, on top of that they have to play 3 games in 4 nights. Imagine if these games turn out to be long OT sessions. The teams could potentially play a total of 4 games in 4 days when you combine the time played. Bottom line is that tired teams don’t generally play good hockey, and here both teams have a high likelihood of being tired and worn out real fast in this series. That’s not the best way to showcase hockey for the nation. I understand why people don’t think there should have been 9 days off before the Finals, but this tightly packed schedule isn’t that much better. As it usually does, the league dropped the ball on this in my opinion.

That's exactly how I would have done it, and it gives the league a better final, instead of showcasing tired teams playing sloppy hockey. Last year the Lakers and Celtics played in the finals, yet the NHL had its best SCF ratings in years. Don't know why they'd be scared this year. Some players will complain about it and some won't, but I doubt any players actually want to play back to back or three games in four days.

Like I said in my original post, what makes it even more stupid is that there's only one day off before game 3. We had two 2 day breaks against Chicago. It makes no sense.

Our team isn't as deep as the 2002 team, that team didn't have any injuries from what I can remember, and the Pens are better than that Carolina team. Other than those minor differences, your analogy makes at least some sense.

Yeah, like that commercial of them winning game 5 last year. No bias there.

The league got decent ratings last year in the Finals. I don't see why it'd be bad this season all of a sudden.

What are you talking about man? This is great for the league. They'll get the Finals over with quickly, not compete with the NBA, and the Wings will likely lose due to fatigue and injuries. How can you complain about those results?

You should streak during that local telethon in order to voice your displeasure.